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People Always Leave (8)

DECEMBER 24th

MAYA POV
Christmas Eve, the happiest day of any kids' year. And yet, I woke this morning to no brother and now my mom is nowhere to be found. My dad seemed happy, happier than he has been since the Olympic gold medal that he takes responsibility for. The bedroom they share was empty of anything belonging to my mom except a letter that had ripped up, a letter that with the help of Sellotape will give me all the closure I will hopefully need.

Dear Lane,

We knew this day would come where I would leave. I would leave our marriage and now family because of you. I never intended for you to have the power you now have, for you to abuse our children so easily and me. It's too late for me to change that and to stop it from happening.

Since Mason left the house, I've felt this pressure to look after Maya, but I can no longer do that and be with you. I can no longer put myself in dangers' way. I hope you look after Maya for her final year at High school.

Katherine

The pictures hanging on the walls of the house representing the perfect family was a contradiction to life. Every year, we took the same picture in front of the same fake Christmas tree with the same fake smiles. A routine that we shared the proof to family and friends that aren't close enough to see through the lie. There were presents sat under the fake tree, I knew what they were. Running shoes from my deal, new training clothes and exercises that I'll spend the day doing with my dad.

CARINA POV
Christmas without any family present has somehow been very relaxing, Gabriella has kept me company since she no longer keeps in touch with her own family. We can relate on the parent front which is probably what has always made us closer than the other interns.

My residency has been focused on both trauma and OB, thankfully my dad only ever focuses on one, on the one I have no interest in pursuing. The days are long but fulfilling, my dad hasn't really called which was a relief until I found out that he had been restrained in his hospital. My father, in his manic ways, tried to experiment on patients who were fighting for their lives. He thought that his rogue surgeries would fix everything, as if he was a modern-day Frankenstein.

"Do you think you will call him?" Gabri asks me for the tenth time today, I'm sat at the end of my bed, the covers thrown over Gabri as she lays behind me and softly strokes my back.

"Why should I?" I question her in a snarky manner as I abruptly stand up and walk out the room in just a hoodie. My roommate has gone home to his family, his lovely and perfect family.

"Hasn't he tried to reach out recently? Didn't he send you that email?" She continues to question me as she follows me through my quaint apartment.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I should do anything" I mutter as I busy myself. Hoping that cooking will distract both of us from this conversation.

"Have you replied to that email?" she questions once again; I turn around as I feel a rush of emotions fill my body.

"He doesn't love me; he acts like he does when he's not manic. But I think him being manic just shows who he truly is". I explain further. As the conversation continues, I feel all motivation for cooking, leave my body.

"You are pushing him away" her last comment hits me.

"He will just leave, why put effort into someone who never puts effort into you?" the conversation ends as my last comment lingers inside our brains for a few minutes.

Jan 1st

MAYA POV
The upside to a new year is new expectations... well the same expectations but sugar coated to feel like something else. I've been running every day about 30 miles which has been unusually cathartic, since mom left it's all I have. My dad has been pushing me more and more, I haven't tried to fight it. We had a talk about school and surprisingly my dad wants me to have a tutor, a tutor from the athletics team but a tutor, nonetheless. The only person my dad would approve of is Hima, a girl I've had a crush on for a while and the girl who has the best grades in the year while I have some of the worst.

My dad has a business meeting outside of state which means I have a week to relax. Relax but still run the 30 miles. I've been thinking recently about having a permanent reminder of the Olympics in the form of a tattoo. A tattoo that would represent a time in which I hated but hold dear to my heart. The classic five Olympic rings tattooed onto my rib cage, a place where my dad would never see it.

"Thank you so much for doing this" I thank the tattoo artist as he finishes my tattoo. He's the brother of my future tutor, Hima. He's the stereotypical tattoo artist, covered head to toe in tattoos and rides a motorcycle everywhere. You could imagine there's quite a stark difference between the siblings.

"You are friends with my little sister plus you won a fucking gold medal" he grins as he talks.

"I owe you!" I say as I pay and walk out the door. The pain felt good, do you ever have that? When a cut is just deep enough that it stings or when you accidentally walk into something and you feel that burn, I crave it. I guess that's why you'd think in my past I would have purposely wanted to hurt myself, why would I need to if I had to run?

Running home, I notice a car in the drive. A car that I have been dreading to see. My dad's shiny car sat in the driveway, glistening in the sun. Just like me, his car has always been his prized possession.

"Where were you, Maya?" he questions as I try to sneak my way through the door.

"I was running dad" I try to excuse my behaviour before even knowing how he would react.

"You're wearing normal clothes, you know you don't run in jeans" He berates me, I start to feel smaller and smaller in his gaze. His steel eyes baring into me like an ice pick impaled in my chest, he knows his effect on me as a smirk spread across his face.

"I ate a big meal last night and felt like I needed to be punished. I didn't want to put on pounds and disappoint you, so I felt like I needed to do something to teach myself a lesson" I reason, his eyes brighten as he takes in my comment.

"I'm proud of you for realising that but I don't think that's good enough. Change into some proper clothes and we'll head to the track. You have 30 seconds" he orders and without a second thought I rush to my room and throw on any clothes I have on the floor.

CARINA POV
One complicated surgery after another, it never ends. At the start of the shift, I was thrown into the ER to help with the stupid injuries mostly by drunk men. But with one overturned bus and a parenting class with gas leaking, 23 pregnant women were pushed into this one room. 23 very pregnant women with all different problems. Within 6 hours, I had completed or assisted on 10 different c-sections. And not the straightforward c-section we would crave.

"You have a lovely boy" I announce to a happy family before heading back into the OR for the next patient to be wheeled in. A visiting doctor has been helping us, Addison Montgomery. She's world class and has taught everywhere but usually stays in Seattle. She's so intelligent, I can't help but have a crush on her.

"Okay, this one again is different. With where the bleeding started, it looks like the usual angle isn't right. So, what does this mean?" She asks us around the table.

"We need to find a different angle which still keeps both mama and baby safe, we also need to find an angle or a way to watch and take care of the bleeding" I throw my answer out into the open in hopes of impressing her. 

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A/N

Thank you to everyone who is still reading! 

There will be approximately two more chapters in this format before there is a time jump to "modern day" Maya and Carina with some changes here and there